


I Would Walk 500 Miles

by themonsterswin



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Long Distance Relationships, M/M, Online Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-24
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 12:58:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1057049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themonsterswin/pseuds/themonsterswin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck's an Engineering student who lives in Sydney, Australia; Raleigh works construction in Anchorage with his brother Yancy. The two met a long time ago, in an online gaming community, where raleigh_danger and strikerhansen hit it off. They've been friends ever since, though they only started skyping a few years ago. This collection of drabbles follows them from friends to something a little more!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1AM to 5AM

_1AM (Anchorage) - 9PM (Sydney)_

If Raleigh’s calculations were correct, Chuck would just be getting back from his late night class of ‘Fluid and Particle Mechanics’, a class that sounded entirely too difficult and unnecessary to Raleigh, but then he wasn’t the one studying Engineering at the University of Sydney.

Settling in bed, laptop propped up on his lap and a nice big mug of tea on his bedside table, Raleigh pulled up Skype, smiling lightly when Chuck seemed to pop online just as he did.

He clicked the name, then dialled the number and seconds later Chuck’s face came into view and Raleigh frowned.

“Is that … war paint?”

Chuck held up his hand, moving around and the image came in and out of focus a few times before the Australian settled on the couch. Raleigh could hear the TV in the background, as well as a few voices and Chuck heaved a heavy sigh, drinking from a bottle of what looked like beer before he turned his focus on the screen.

“Sorry. Yes, it’s war paint. The professor thought it was an interesting way to prove something, had us all paint our faces in different colours to represent different molecules and .. it was ridiculous,” he explained, waving his hands around to try and indicate how crazy it had all been.

“You look tired.”

“It’s 1am.”

“No it’s not, it’s 9pm.”

The time difference always came up, though generally speaking it was so they could laugh at each other and the fact that they were halfway across the world. Even if sometimes, it was far from funny.

“For you maybe.”

There was a brief silence, Chuck reaching forward, making the image jump a little before he leant back, a slice of pizza in hand.

“You are turning into such a typical college student,” Raleigh commented, lazy grin on his face as Chuck pointedly stuck out his tongue.

“You said I looked like a typical college student when we first started Skyping, so I’m really just living up to your expectations Becket,” the other man countered after swallowing a bite of pizza, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.

They’d first ‘met’ about three years ago, meaning that was the first time they’d exchanged Skype contacts; really, they’d known each other for over ten years now, having met in an online gaming community.

 _raleigh_danger_ and _strikerhansen_ had known each other for a lot longer than Raleigh Becket and Chuck Hansen had, but in the end the transition from talking with gamer tags to talking as real people had been an easy one. Chuck had considered _raleigh_danger_ one of his best friends for a very long time, to great frustration of his father, who thought online friendships were dangerous and misleading. Then Herc Hansen could get a _little_ overprotective.

Like any kid would do, Chuck simply scoffed at that and continued telling Raleigh just about anything that was going on in his life.

“You did. And you still do. Not that it’s a bad thing. Apparently I have a thing for college students,” Raleigh said, a smirk on his face and Chuck pointedly took a large bite from his pizza slice, as if that would make him even more attractive.

“How goes things on the building site?”

“Yance is driving me up the freggin’ wall, but what else is new, right?”

Raleigh sighed. He’d been working construction with his brother for a long time now; it had started after high school, when he’d originally wanted to go to college, but due to the high amount of medical bills they had to pay for their mother, both Becket brothers had opted out of their college dreams and got a job instead.

Even with their mother now gone - rest her soul - Raleigh’d never really thought of going back to college. He felt too old and though he complained a lot, working construction wasn’t half bad.

He’d always liked working with his hands.

“What’d he do this time?”

“The order of limestone bricks came in late and apparently that was my fault,” Rals explained with a roll of the eye, mock glaring at Chuck as the other man laughed at that.

“Isn’t he the one who orders the things? Y’know, being the contractor and all?,” he asked then, a slightly more serious tone to his voice and he reached forward to grab himself another slice as Raleigh shifted around in bed, reaching for his tea.

“Technically, yes, but a lot of the time he has me do it, because he’s too busy. Or too lazy. Or he just likes bossing me around.”

“Probably the latter.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Sipping his tea, Raleigh frowned a little as he saw some movement behind Chuck, leaning up as if to get a closer look, even though that wouldn’t do him much good.

“Who else is there?”

“Oh, that’s Mako. Daughter of one of my dad’s old friends, she’s taking a tour around campus cos she might be coming to study here. Dad offered to let her stay at my place - without asking me, of course.”

Raleigh couldn’t help but laugh at that, which in turn earned him a scowl from Chuck.

“You never told me how that test went you had a few days ago,” the older man then said, realising he should probably change the subject if he wanted to keep Chuck’s mood up. The kid could get a little moody at times, especially when it came to his father. Raleigh suspected there was some tension there; Chuck didn’t like to talk about it so usually Raleigh didn’t ask.

“It went alright.”

“That mean you aced it?”

“Probably.”

Chuck was a cocky son of a bitch, that much Raleigh had found out easily, but annoyingly enough he was generally also very good at proving he had every right to be cocky. He was taking an advanced degree, he was ace-ing most of his tests, he was involved with a shit ton of extracurriculars, some of which Raleigh didn’t even understand what they were for and well. It was really rather annoying, how clever the kid really was. And how much he was aware of that.

“Good. But hey listen, I’ve got an early start tomorrow. I was really only calling to say goodnight,” Rals then said, finishing the last of his tea, leaning to the side to put the mug away before coming back into view.

“Ah alright. I’ve got some last minute homework to do so anyway.”

There was a slight pause.

“See you tomorrow then?”

Raleigh smiled.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_2AM (Sydney) - 6AM (Anchorage)_

“Chuck?”

When Raleigh saw the familiar name flashing across the screen of his phone, he frowned. His voice was groggy; he’d only just woken up and even though Raleigh was very much a morning person, 6AM starts still weren’t his best friend. He didn’t think they were anyone’s best friend.

“Raaaaaahleigh,” came the voice on the other end of the line, followed by a string of giggles and then what sounded like a bit of a struggle, Chuck cursing under his breath.

“Are you drunk?”

“No.”

Another giggle.

“You’re drunk.”

“Only a little!”

There was more scuffling and Raleigh could’ve sworn he heard Chuck whine somewhere in the middle before there was an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line.

“Mister Becket?”

“..... yes?”

“This is Mako, Mako Mori. I can assure you I will return Mister Hansen back to his apartment in one piece.”

“You’re the .. kid-of-his-dad’s-friend Mako?”

“Correct.”

She spoke fluent English, but there was an accent there that Raleigh wasn’t entirely sure how to place. Something Asian, that much was obvious between the name and the accent, but Raleigh didn’t dare guess where exactly the girl was from. He preferred not offending people.

“Well, good. You eh .. you take care of him.”

“Gimme that,” Chuck’s voice then came, and there was a clattering sound which Raleigh was fairly sure meant that the phone had dropped to the ground.

A few moments passed before Chuck was back.

“Sorry about that. I’m fine. I don’t need a babysitter. I’ve been walking in a straight line this whole time!”

Raleigh couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking his head.

“Of course you have Chuckles.”

“Don’t … you don’t believe me, do you?”

“That is correct.”

“I will send you a video. I will prove it!”

Then the line went dead and Raleigh was left to stare at his phone.

The video came a couple of minutes later; Chuck stumbling around the sidewalk, attempting to walk in a straight line and Mako barely containing her laughter as she held the phone.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_3AM (Anchorage) - 11PM (Sydney)_

“I can’t sleep.”

Raleigh’s face came into view after he turned on a light, his head one big mess of hair, eyes tired and face sad and Chuck couldn’t help but smile lightly. The thought that Becket was adorable, though not one he would ever voice out loud, definitely crossed his mind there.

“What’s wrong?”

It was 11PM at night and Chuck had just finished catching up with his shows; half of which he watched because Raleigh recommended them. Raleigh’s taste in shows was … well. Ecclectic.

Chuck hated half the shows, but he loved talking about them with Raleigh, which was exactly why he kept watching.

“It’s .. today’s the eh. I don’t even know how you call that. Anniversary of Jazmine’s death? Only it’s not an anniversary as it’s not .. we don’t exactly celebrate it?”

Jazmine was Yancy and Raleigh’s younger sister, the younger sister who died a long time ago, but Chuck knew better than most how much it still got to Raleigh. He blamed himself for not having been able to do more, no matter how much Chuck told him it wasn’t his fault.

He remembered this day a couple of years ago, when Raleigh had called him up, stupid drunk and really upset, crying at him over the phone and Chuck had wound up calling Yancy, because he didn’t trust Raleigh would make it home okay on his own.

“Maybe you should,” Chuck offered, voice quiet as he leant towards the laptop, adjusting the webcam a little before he sat back, folding his legs underneath his body.

“Why? She died, that’s not worth celebrating,” Raleigh grumbled, running a hand through his hair, messing it up even more and it would’ve been funny if the conversation hadn’t been so serious.

“You don’t celebrate that she died, you celebrate that she lived. That she was a great person. Celebrate the good things, I dunno just .. go out and have fun, for her sake.”

“What, because she can’t anymore?”

Chuck sighed.

“Not exactly what I meant, but yeah, if you want, you can look at it like that. She doesn’t get to enjoy life anymore, so you and Yance, you should enjoy it twice as much, so her spirit or whatever can like .. enjoy it vicariously through you.”

“I like when you use big words.”

Raleigh managed a light smile, reaching out to prod at the camera and Chuck grinned at that, pulling a face.

“I’d come celebrate with you, but I’ve got midterms tomorrow.”

The face he pulled turned from a silly one to a sad one, and he sighed then.

They joked about this a lot. About how they would just come over to the other’s place one day; hell, they’d planned out so many things that they wanted to do together already and they’d never even met in person.

Chuck hoped they would though. One day.

“I’ll be okay. I’ll just drag Yance and Tendo out with me.”

“Oh, that’s still a thing?”

Raleigh had told him about this new boyfriend his brother had, a man named Tendo Choi who worked for the business that had hired the Becket brothers’ contracting company. Apparently, they’d really hit it off, but there was also this girl named Allison and if Chuck had understood correctly, Raleigh wasn’t so sure Tendo wanted anything more than just a fling.

“Apparently,” the older man grumbled, waving a hand dismissively and Chuck smiled lightly.

“Just .. go out with your brother. And Tendo, if he has to be there. Have some fun. For Jazmine.” A pause. “And for me, cos I’ll be stuck doing my midterms.”

Raleigh laughed at that.

“Will do, _skippy_.”

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_4AM (Sydney) - 8AM (Anchorage)_

[open attachment]

Raleigh frowned at the empty email he got from Chuck, glancing over at the clock beside him, quickly doing the maths and his frown only got worse when he realised it was 4 in the morning for the Australian.

Sighing, he clicked the attachment anyway, frowning when it turned out to be a bunch of files, Word files with a list of websites, some information and it wasn’t until Raleigh scanned what the files said that realisation dawned on him.

“You sneaky bastard,” he muttered under his breath, reading through a brochure from a school that offered night classes for people who had nothing but a high school degree.

Once.

He’d mentioned it _once_ that maybe he regretted not going to college, that maybe he still wanted to do something with that. He’d mentioned it once, a couple of days ago and now Chuck, who was apparently still awake at four in the morning, was sending him brochures.

Pulling the email back up, he started typing.

_Bastard._

Clicking ‘send’, he returned his attention to the other files Chuck had send, and he’d done his homework, really properly too. There were timetables and prices and even a bunch of phone numbers that Raleigh could call if he wanted to, contacts that Chuck’s dad apparently had and Raleigh made a mental note to ask what the man even did.

 _You love me_ , came Chuck’s reply, within a minute, so obviously the other man was still awake. Raleigh snorted.

_Lies and slander. You’re a pain in my ass._

_You Love Me.  
PS You should do it._

He sighed at that, running a hand through his hair before bringing his hands back down to the keyboard.

_I’ll think about it.  
Now go to bed._

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_5AM (Sydney) - 9AM (Anchorage)_

“What time is it for you?”

It was dark behind Chuck and there were circles under his eyes that even the gritty image from the webcam couldn’t hide and Raleigh couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, even if he wasn’t surprised to find Chuck still awake. It was hardly the first time Chuck stayed up late..

“5am,” Chuck managed, yawning as he shifted on the bed, the image jumped as his movements jostled the laptop around and Chuck missed Raleigh shaking his head, only hearing the heavy sigh from the other end of the world.

“I know alright, I just wanted to say good morning, and it was already 4 by the time I was done with the homework so I figured I might’s well wait til you showed up online,” he explained, bringing up his hand as he yawned again, covering his mouth this time.

Raleigh simply stared at the webcam, hoping that would deliver the message as well, though whether or not Chuck got the message was hard to decipher from the face the younger man pulled.

“What’re you doing today anyway?”

Chuck shifted again, reaching for a drink as he watched Raleigh shrug his shoulders. “Gotta head down to the city, file some contrasts because my lazy ass brother says he doesn’t have the time,” the other man said, pulling a face.

“So, long day then?”

“Long day.” A slight pause. “You have a test today, don’t you?”

Averting his gaze, Chuck sighed, which really did nothing but prove that Raleigh was right. Whenever Chuck had a big test, he stayed up late for some reason. Raleigh knew it wasn't to study, he knew that Chuck was pretty on top of things as far as studying went and he didn't need to study the night before, but apparently the other man still got nervous. Nervous enough that he usually wind up not sleeping the day before the really big tests.

“A big one?”

Chuck nodded, chewing lightly on the inside of his cheek and Raleigh couldn’t help but smile lightly.

“You’ll be fine, Hansen. You always ace these things.”

“I know, but this one is really big, like .. if I don’t pass this one, I could fail the whole course.”

“You’ve never failed a test in your life.”

“That’s not true.”

Raleigh’s eyebrows shot up at that and he leant closer, genuinely intrigued.

“Tell me _everything_.”

Chuck laughed, sitting back, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he shook his head.

“No.”

“Awwww, come on Hansen, not like I can tell anyone who can use it against you.”

“ _You_ can use it against me.”

He shot Raleigh a pointed look, chuckling when the other man at least had the decency to nod.

“True. But I still wanna know.”

There was a moment of silence, Chuck heaving a heavy sigh as he shook his head again, then decided to just screw it.

“Fine. You know when you’re a kid and you get swimming lessons and then if you pass you get a diploma?”

Raleigh nodded.

“Well, I don’t have one. Even though I can technically swim, but I just … don’t like it.”

“You can’t swim?”

“Are you even listening?”

“You're Australian and you don’t like to swim?”

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“You live on a giant island, surrounded by oceans…”

Chuck rolled his eyes.

“So?”

“I dunno I figure it’d be useful if you knew how to swim.”

Chuck stared.

“You should just laugh at me so we can get that over with, yeah?”

“No, no I think I’ll save that for when we meet in person.”

Chuck groaned as Raleigh smirked at him from halfway across the world, way too proud of himself.


	2. 6AM to 10AM

_6AM (Anchorage) - 2AM (Sydney)_

“Yancy keeps calling you my boyfriend.”

“What, I’m not?”

Chuck realised that neither of them probably really knew what they were. They’d been friends for years and Chuck would be the last person in the world to deny that if they lived closer together he would’ve tried to jump Raleigh’s bones a long time ago, but alas.

Raleigh was halfway across the world in goddamned Alaska and Chuck was stuck in Sydney and though he considered the other man his best friend in the whole world, they’d never met in person.

Skyping was great, it really was and it made him feel like Raleigh was right in the room with him, but it just wasn’t the same.

“I’m pretty sure everyone agrees long distance relationships don’t work out,” Raleigh said, voice quiet and there was something sad about him tonight. Chuck wasn’t sure what caused it, wasn’t sure if he was supposed to ask. Generally speaking Raleigh didn’t poke and prod when Chuck was in a mood and he was trying to return the favor.

Even though he was a very curious person and not asking was hard for him.

“Our long distance friendship’s been working out for years,” Chuck pointed out, shrugging his shoulders lightly. He knew it wasn’t the same, of course it wasn’t the same. He still wanted to make the point though. At least it got a light smile out of Raleigh.

“If we lived closer together, …”

“Yes?”

“I would’ve asked you out years ago.”

“And here I thought you’ve always thought I’m just an arrogant punk ass kid.”

Chuck wasn’t sure what to make of how serious Raleigh sounded; him turning it into a joke was a defence mechanism and he wasn’t even sure if this was something he wanted to defend himself against.

“I would’ve said yes y’know.”

Raleigh’d been fidgeting with the sheets on his bed, not looking at the camera, but that got him to look up and Chuck really wished they both had better webcams so he could better decipher the look on Raleigh’s face.

“But we don’t live closer together.”

“I know.”

Usually when they fell silent, it was a comfortable silence, nothing that either of them would feel the urge to break all too soon, but today it was different.

“I’ve gotta get to work,” Raleigh said after about a minute or so, not even giving Chuck the chance to say goodbye before he shut the laptop and Chuck leant back against the couch, running a hand through his hair.

This was ridiculous.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_7AM (Sydney) - 11AM (Anchorage)_

“I don’t know how you get up so early every single day, Rals,” Chuck sighed.

He’d moved the laptop into the kitchen with him, having settled at the counter with a bowl of cereal and a nice big cup of coffee to help wake him up, but he just wasn’t getting it done. 7AM was the earliest he’d had to get up in a while; usually he had afternoon classes and he just really wasn’t a morning person.

Certainly not as much as Raleigh always seemed to be.

“I just get out of bed and take a shower and then I’m awake?”

“I need at _least_ two coffees before I can function,” Chuck grumbled, finding it decidedly more and more unfair that it was so easy for Raleigh to wake up. He wanted that. He wished he could have that.

“Can’t you teach me or something?”

Raleigh laughed at that, shifting in his seat. The background told Chuck that he was already at work, which wasn’t odd considering it was around 11AM in Anchorage around this time.

“Wouldn’t know where to begin Hansen,” the older man then sai, chuckling before he added, “You’re hopeless.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Chuck finished his coffee, then pulled a face which was ridiculous enough to make Raleigh laugh again, only to suddenly stop.

“What? Rals?”

“Yeah, hang on a sec,” Raleigh said, getting up from his chair and moving away and Chuck was left to sit there, raising an eyebrow at the blank background, pointedly turning his attention to his bowl of cereal, figuring he might as well finish that as he waited.

“I have to leave for class in like ten minutes Becket, get your ass back here!,” he called out, hoping his raised voice might catch Raleigh’s attention, but when the laptop moved and someone stepped into view, it sure as hell wasn’t Raleigh.

“You must be Chuck.”

It had be Yancy. Chuck had seen pictures, but even without that the resemblance between the two brothers was rather mindblowing. He stared for a few long seconds before swallowing his cereal and nodding.

“Eh, yeah, hi. Yancy, right?”

The other man nodded, shifting in his seat and he seemed a little uncomfortable for some reason.

“Raleigh’s running an errand, said to tell you he’ll call you later tonight,” Yancy said after a brief pause, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, okay.”

Chuck shoved another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, fully expecting Yancy to shut down the laptop, break the connection, but apparently there was something else still on the older man’s mind. Clearing his throat, he pushed his bowl aside after finishing it, leaning closer to the camera.

“Something else you gotta say?,” he asked, figuring he might as well come right out and ask for it, even if he didn’t know what he was asking for.

“Yeah, just. Not sure how to say it.”

“Using words tends to help.”

Yancy shot a glare his way and Chuck had to bite back a grin; they really did look a lot alike.

“You and my lil’ brother. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but you seem to put a smile on his face a lot. And he told me you were the one who told him to go out with me and Tendo when Jazmine .. you know when.”

He trailed off, clearing his throat as Chuck nodded. “Yeah.”

“I just … I don’t know if I’m seeing something that isn’t there, I don’t know how close you two really are, but if you ever so much as think of hurting him --”

“You realise we’re just friends, right?”

Yancy chuckled at that, which caused Chuck to frown because he wasn’t entirely sure how that was funny.

“The way he talks about you, Hansen … I’m not so sure about that.”

“I like him. He’s my friend. But he’s also half a world away, Yance.”

He didn’t even know Yancy that well, but Yance was what Raleigh always called him and it kinda just came out. Chuck figured he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it if Yancy didn’t.

“I know that probably complicates things, but still. Whether you two are friends or something more, still don’t want you to hurt him. He cares about you.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

Yancy cleared his throat when a silence overtook them, running a hand through his hair before reaching out for the laptop.

“I gotta get back to work now Hansen.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Talk to you later.”

And just like that, the screen went black.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_8AM (Anchorage) - 4AM (Sydney)_

“So your brother told me that I better not hurt you _or else_..”

Chuck trailed off, shooting Raleigh a pointed look and in Yancy’s defence, he hadn’t so much spoken the ‘or else’ part as he’d just implied it, but it was still there.

“What? When did he do that?”

“Other day, when you were at work and you had to go run an errand or something.” Chuck shrugged his shoulders. What did it matter when it happened anyway?

“Apparently he thinks you’re pretty fond of me.”

Raleigh couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the smirk on Chuck’s face, raising an eyebrow at the younger male.

“You like that, don’t you?”

“Actually, I love that.”

“Knew you would.”

Chuck laughed at that, shaking his head a little.

“For the record, I’m pretty fond of you as well, Becket.”

That earned him a smile from Raleigh, who then sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I do like you a lot Chuckles. Really do wish you didn’t live so far away,” he mumbled, light smile still on his face as he looked right at the camera.

“I know. It sucks.”

Chuck sighed. It wasn’t as if this was anything new. The fact that it sucked that they were so far away. He’d considered Raleigh one of his closest friends for a long time now, he’d wished the other man lived closer for at least ten years now.

He wished he could meet him, hug him, hold him tight, thank him for all the shit that he put up with, and hell, maybe there were some other things that were secretly on Chuck’s list of things to do when he finally met Raleigh, but they didn’t really talk about that.

“You think that if we lived closer, we’d still talk this much? We’d still be this close?”

“I dunno,” Chuck said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’d like to think so?”

“Yeah. Yeah me too.”

Chuck bit his bottom lip lightly, worrying it between his teeth, hesitating before he spoke.

“You think if we lived closer, we’d be something more than just friends?”

“Chuck …”

Raleigh sighed, watching as Chuck turned his gaze right up at the camera and there was this look on his face, a look that Raleigh couldn’t quite describe. He wasn’t sure he wanted to either.

“Maybe? Who knows.”

“Yeah.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_9AM (Sydney) - 1PM (Anchorage)_

“It’s Yancy, he ..”

Raleigh closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair as he averted his gaze, looking anywhere but at the camera and Chuck frowned. It didn’t take a genius to figure out something was wrong, and if something happened to Yancy ..

“Is he alright?”

“He’s in the hospital.”

Chuck cursed under his breath, loud enough to attract Mako’s attention as she walked by, but he waved her off as she asked what was wrong.

“What happened?”

Mako lingered, moving to sit down next to Chuck on the couch with a bowl of soup in her hand and Raleigh managed a light smile as he saw her, then he sighed. The two of them had been talking, apparently, or so Raleigh had told Chuck. He wasn’t sure what he thought about it, but for the most part he liked that his friends were also friends of each other.

“Accident at the construction site. A whole part of the building came down, he got caught underneath the rubble..”

He trailed off again, his voice shaking and Chuck had never wished more that he could simply reach through the screen and somehow comfort Raleigh with more than just well meant words and looks.

“Shit.”

“It’s pretty bad. He was wearing his helmet, so at least … but he broke both his legs, there’s some cracked ribs as well I think and they say he passed out because of a lack of oxygen at some point, and it’s just .. I don’t know what to do.”

“It’ll be alright Rals. He’s a tough sonuvabitch, you know that.”

“I can’t .. he’s all I’ve got left Chuck,” Raleigh said, voice breaking then as he looked away again, wiping angrily at his eyes and Chuck cursed again, glancing over at Mako, half expecting her to have all the answers, but even Mako Mori didn’t know what to do in this situation.

“It’ll be okay. You just .. gotta believe that Rals. Positive thinking or _something_ , I don’t know, I just ..”

“I know. It’s … thank you Chuck. I’m just .. I’m freaking out a little. ‘s why I called you,” Raleigh said, or mumbled more like, his voice barely audible, but Chuck picked up on it anyway, as well as the slight smile on the other man’s face and he returned it, leaning closer to the screen.

“He’ll be fine. I know he’ll be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_10AM (Anchorage) - 6AM (Sydney)_

Twenty six hours.

Twenty six goddamned hours spent on planes and on airports before Chuck finally arrived in Anchorage and when he stepped outside he wasn’t just jetlagged, he was also sleep deprive, incredibly broke and _freezing_. He wanted nothing more than to find a place to sleep and crash, but he knew he wasn’t going to let himself do that just yet.

“Taxi!”

The taxi ride wasn’t horrible compared to the flight; Chuck had been seated next to a young couple who had been nothing but nice - it wasn’t them he’d had an issue with, it was their four month old baby that wouldn’t stop crying - so the taxi ride was a welcome change.

He didn’t know any address other than Raleigh’s, but he knew that Raleigh wasn’t going to be at home, so instead he gave the name of the hospital where he knew Yancy was at and thankfully the taxi driver knew exactly where that was.

Mako had been right to call him nuts for doing this.

The taxi ride took another forty or so minutes, which meant that, in total, he’d been underway for over twenty seven hours and he hadn’t slept a wink in between - except for that cat nap at the San Francisco airport - so if Chuck had to be honest, by now he was mostly just surprised that he was still functioning.

Making his way up to the front desk, his backpack slung over his shoulder, he asked the lady where he could find Yancy Becket, claiming he was a friend of the family. After convincing her that he was certain he wasn’t here to check himself in - he figured he looked about as great as he felt - he got told where he could find Yancy and he headed up to the right floor.

The elevator music on the way up was almost enough to make him fall right asleep, but the ‘ping’ when arriving to the right floor thankfully shook him right up again.

He really needed sleep.

Adjusting his grip on the backpack, he made his way down the hall, glancing left and right to keep an eye out for the right room number, coming to a halt in front of the same room.

He’d been fine this whole time. Twenty seven hours and he’d been nothing but excited, but now that he was here, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous anyway.

Not only had he not told Raleigh that he was coming, he was also at the hospital, not at Raleigh’s home and if they didn’t know each other as well as they did, he would’ve probably felt like he was intruding into a private matter.

Even with how well he knew Raleigh, he still felt a little like that was what he was doing.

No point to turning back now though.

Taking a deep breath, he then reached out, knocking on the door before making his way inside, peeking his head around the corner to find himself face to face with Yancy lying in the bed, Raleigh seemingly asleep in the chair beside it and Chuck couldn’t help but smile lightly.

Stepping properly inside, he quietly closed the door behind him, moving up to the bed, putting his backpack down, leaning over it towards Raleigh, reaching out to shake him and --

“Don’t.”

He jumped at the sudden voice, head snapping to the right as Yancy shifted in his bed, sitting up with some effort.

“He hasn’t been sleeping well, just … let him nap for a while,” the older Becket said, managing a light smile before raising his arm, the one that wasn’t in a sling, pointing at the chair on the other side of his bed.

“He asked you to come?”

Yancy waited til Chuck was seated to ask that question and Chuck shook his head, stifling a yawn, then running a hand through his hair, which he was sure looked like it had exploded or something.

“No, I wanted to surprise him. He’s .. he was really upset about what happened to you and I just felt … useless.”

He sighed, not meeting Yancy’s eyes, shaking his head a little in an attempt to wake himself up.

“You guys never met in person before, right?,” Yancy then asked, his voice quiet and if he was in pain he was doing a damned good job masking it. Then again, with two broken legs and a bunch of cracked ribs, Chuck imagined he was on quite a few impressive painkillers.

“Nope. Always figured we would meet up one day, y’know? But then you just get busy with school and work and life and it just .. never happened.”

“Until now.”

“Yeah, until now.”

Chuck managed a light smile at that.

“I’m glad you’re okay Yance,” he then said, finally looking up to meet the other male’s gaze and Yancy grinned lightly at that, raising an eyebrow at Chuck.

“You do realise I’m gonna tell everyone that I’m the one who eventually made you guys man up and meet up in person already, right?”

Chuck raised an eyebrow at that, opening his mouth to retort even if he wasn’t sure what he could even say to that, but then Raleigh stirred in the chair opposite him, grumbling and mumbling before he sat up straight, his hair sticking up in all sorts of impossible angles.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Yancy said, grin still on his face as he waited for his little brother to take in the rest of the room.

“Your boyfriend’s here.”


	3. 11AM to 3PM

_11AM (Sydney) - 3PM (Anchorage)_

“What time is it for you?”

“3PM I think,” Chuck answered Mako’s question, managing a light smile as she shifted a little, obviously in the mess hall on campus; he recognised the obnoxiously bright colours and the large amount of students passing by. 

“So what are you doing calling me when you could be spending time with your Raleigh?”

Mako had taken to referring Raleigh as Chuck’s Raleigh and Chuck still wasn’t sure what term bothered him more; ‘boyfriend’ or ‘your Raleigh’. Mostly because neither of them were particularly true, not officially anyway and that bothered him a little more than he wanted to let on.

Chuck sighed.

“I’m starting to think he doesn’t even want me here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“No, just .. I came here because I felt like I could do more to help in person, but now I’m here and I just .. I feel just as useless as I did before.”

“A lot of the time, just being there for someone is all the help they expect you to give,” Mako said, sounding wiser than her age would make you think she was, but that was Mako for you. Wise beyond her years.

“I don’t care what he expects, I want to do _more_ than what he expects, I --”

“And you don’t think that flying all the way to Anchorage is more than he expects?”

Chuck was silent for a moment then, because Mako had a point, _of course_ Mako had a point, because Mako Mori always had a point, but that didn’t mean he was willing to admit that just yet. 

“I wanted to surprise him, but I mean, with everything that’s going on with Yancy and him having to pick up things around work, he’s not even really around. I fly back in a few days and I just .. I feel like we’re not really spending any time together at all.”

“He’s got a lot on his mind Chuck. Have you tried telling him that you _want_ to spend time with him in the first place?”

“I’d just feel like a selfish prick if I told him that.”

“Only spending time with you is something that he will enjoy, so asking him to go out with you, have some fun, that’s hardly selfish Chuck.”

She was right, again, of course. There were times when Chuck wondered how he’d even made it through life without Mako as a part of it. Then again he’d known her for as long as he could remember, so he never really _had_ to make it through life without her.

Bugger.

“Oh, he’s here,” Chuck said after he heard the key in the lock to Raleigh’s place, offering Mako a light smile and a wave before he shut his laptop down. His laptop was really the only useful thing he’d packed when he’d made the split decision to fly over to Anchorage; he’d packed clothes, but he’d only packed a few shirts and some jeans and a sweater and a jacket and he was staying here for two weeks and aside from it not being enough, it really just wasn’t warm enough.

It was summer back in Australia, and in Sydney that meant pleasant weather a lot of the time and seeing as Chuck’s closet was on the smaller side, he tended to dump his winter clothes over at his dad’s place whenever he didn’t need them.

The fact that it was the middle of winter in Anchorage had sort of slipped his mind when he’d packed his overnight bag. 

“That’s my sweater.”

Which was why Chuck had started borrowing Raleigh’s clothes, because really, Raleigh seemed too distracted and he hadn’t even noticed, not until then anyway.

Chuck glanced down at the sweater, the one he’d dubbed Christmas sweater, because there were reindeer on it and it was very large on Chuck and it was the one he’d picked out last night when the heating had given out and he’d wanted to warm himself up.

“Eh, yeah, sorry. I was cold and I literally don’t have anything warmer than what I wore yesterday,” he said, a sheepish smile on his face as he looked up again, jumping a little when Raleigh was suddenly right in front of him, having claimed the seat next to Chuck.

He looked tired. Had looked tired since Chuck had first gotten here, and Chuck once again found himself wishing he could do more to help. He knew zilch about construction and he didn’t know what else he was supposed to help Raleigh with other than the company. 

“It’s okay. Looks good on you,” Raleigh said, managing a light smile before he heaved a heavy sigh, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the counter and his head in his hands. 

“Yancy does _so much_ , I don’t think I ever realised this before.”

“You both work hard,” Chuck offered, not entirely sure what he was supposed to say. Raleigh simply sighed again and Chuck hesitated, then reached out, petting the other man’s shoulder somewhat awkwardly.

Raleigh looked up at that, his eyes seemingly searching Chuck’s, though Chuck couldn’t begin to fathom as to what the older man was looking for. Then Raleigh reached up, grabbing a light hold of the hand Chuck had on his shoulder, squeezing lightly before he smiled. 

“Thanks for being here.”

“Of course, it’s no --”

“Not finished Chuckles.”

He shot Chuck a look and he looked away for a moment, biting his lip lightly. 

“I know this isn’t exactly how we wanted our first meeting to go, what with our Comic Con plans and whatnot, but I’m still really glad you’re here.”

“Aside from the fact that we’re not at Comic Con, I think as far as first meetings go, we still did pretty well?,” Chuck offered, raising an eyebrow before smiling lightly as he heard Raleigh laugh. 

“I was asleep when you got here and I’ve done nothing but grump at you ever since,” the other man deadpanned, pointedly raising an eyebrow at Chuck in return and Chuck couldn’t help but snort at that.

“At least you’re a pretty grump.”

“That helps, does it?”

“A little.”

Despite the light smile on his face, Raleigh then sighed again anyway, turning in his seat so he was facing Chuck more properly.

“I still feel bad.”

“There’s nothing to feel bad about, Becket.”

“I think there is. I’m just not sure how to make it up to you yet.”

“I could think of a few ways..,” Chuck trailed off, wiggling his eyebrows, smirk on his face and he fully expected an eye roll in return, or maybe just a chuckle or even a shove to the shoulder.

What he got instead was a hand grasping at his sweater - Raleigh’s sweater, really - pulling him closer and Chuck almost fell from the stool he was sitting on, a surprised yelp escaping him, and then Raleigh was even closer and before Chuck got to even register what was going on Raleigh’s lips were on his. 

His own hand had shot up in an attempt to catch himself, pressed against the other man’s chest and it took Chuck’s brain a few long seconds to catch up with what was going on, to kick itself into action, but then he let Raleigh pull him even closer, getting up, the stool he’d been sitting on falling over and clattering to the floor, but neither of them really paid attention to that.

Raleigh was an even better kisser than Chuck had imagined - and yes, he’d imagined that quite a lot - and his hand disappeared under Chuck’s sweater at some point, or his own sweater that Chuck was wearing, but really, technicalities and Chuck responded by deepening the kiss, parting his lips, his hand trailing up into Raleigh’s hair, tugging at it lightly.

“I didn’t think you’d actually do that,” he breathed after the kiss was broken, eyes blinking back open so he could look at Raleigh, watching him lick his lips and he didn’t bother resisting the urge to lean back in, kissing Raleigh again, smiling lightly against the other’s lips. 

“Wanted to do that for a while now.”

“Yeah?”

“Hell yeah.”

They spoke against each other’s lip, stealing kisses in between words and when Raleigh’s phone rang they both cursed, pulling apart reluctantly. 

“Work,” Raleigh said after digging his phone from his pocket, heaving a heavy sigh as he shot Chuck an apologetic look before answering his phone.

“Goddamned work,” Chuck muttered, running a hand through his hair before leaning down to pick up the barstool, tugging at the sweater he was wearing, straightening it out a little before sitting back down at the counter.

He was about to reach for his laptop again, maybe get some school work done, when Raleigh walked back into the kitchen, turning the barstool with Chuck still on it, smirk on his face as he leant close.

“Where were we…”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_12PM (Anchorage) - 8AM (Sydney)_

“So when do you fly back?”

It was noon, which meant it was lunch time and Chuck and Raleigh were both seated in one of the - very uncomfortable - hospital chairs in Yancy’s room, the food that they smuggled in mostly gone by now, though Yancy made sure to show his gratitude for the ‘finally, real food!’ by burping loudly, then wincing as, apparently, that hurt his ribs.

“Three days from now. Got an afternoon flight,” Chuck answered in between chuckles, bunching up the food wrappers he’d collected on his lap and tossing them in the bin. Raleigh finished his food quietly; Chuck had noticed the other man didn’t much like the prospect of Chuck going back home and well. Chuck could hardly blame him.

He didn’t want to go back, but he really didn’t have much of a choice. 

“And then what happens?,” Yancy then asked, sitting up straighter in his bed. He was recovering, though it was a slow process and what with both his legs broken, it was going to be a while before he was back up on his feet again. 

“Things go back to the way they were I guess?”

Chuck wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say; though they’d gotten off to a rough start, things had been decidedly easier and better since that kiss - many more had followed - but that didn’t make the whole situation any less complicated.

They’d sort of talked about it before, suggested it to each other; if they lived closer to each other, would they have wanted to go out, would something more have happened, would they have let that happen and as far as Chuck was concerned, if distance hadn’t been an issue that kiss would’ve happened a lot sooner. 

But distance _was_ an issue; not these last three days, but after that Chuck would go back home to Australia and this little trip alone had cost him a large chunk of his savings and he knew he wouldn’t be able to just do that again. 

It wasn’t that simple. 

“You guys haven’t talked about this yet, have you?”

Raleigh shook his head, avoiding Chuck’s gaze when he looked up at him and Chuck simply sighed, glancing over at Yancy then. 

“Look, even a blind man can see you two like each other and --”

“Yance.”

“I’m just trying to do the talking _for_ you little brother.”

Yancy shrugged his shoulders, but remained quiet after Raleigh sent him a rather pointed look, holding up his good hand as if to surrender himself. 

“Fine. I won’t say anything. But you guys should talk about this. There’s something here and you shouldn’t just let a twenty seven hour flight get in the way of that.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_1PM (Sydney) - 5PM (Anchorage)_

_Final boarding call for Flight UA1938 to Los Angeles, all passengers please proceed to Gate 4_.

He didn’t want to go. 

It had only been two weeks since he’d arrived, it wasn’t long enough, _he didn’t want to go_ but he had no choice. 

School didn’t exactly stop if you wanted to pay your friend a visit because he was going through something and if Chuck missed any more classes he’d have a lot of explaining to do with a bunch of sad excuses to help him out and he just couldn’t possibly stay any longer.

If he could, he would’ve, of course he would’ve, but it simply wasn’t an option. Not right now anyway.

For the most part, he didn’t even want to think about when it would be an option. He was in the third year of his study, if he kept on track he’d be done in a year and a half, but that was a long time. That was a very long time. Maybe he could save up in between for trips back to Anchorage, but that still wouldn’t amount to a lot of visits and that wasn’t exactly a thought he liked to linger on.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Raleigh mumbled against his lips, smiling into the quick kiss that Chuck stole before resting his forehead against the other man’s, heaving a heavy sigh. 

“This sucks,” Chuck said in return, stating the obvious and he was aware of that, but it still sucked. He had to go, he had to go _now_ or his plane would leave without him and maybe he’d care more if he’d actually be upset if the plane left without him. Given the fact that he would much rather stay, he wouldn’t be very upset at all, even if he knew he had to go.

“I know.”

“We’ll find a way to make it work, yeah?,” he then said, leaning back a little so he could look up at Raleigh, meeting the other man’s gaze as he nodded, a sad smile on his face. 

“We will. We’ll make it work.”

“Good.”

The announcer repeated the previous message, voice slightly more urgent and Chuck cursed under his breath, leant in to steal another quick kiss before he stepped away, leaning down to pick up his bag.

“I gotta go.”

“I know.”

“I’ll call you when I land.”

“You better.”

There was a slight pause and Chuck chewed on his bottom lip, stepping further back, willing himself to keep moving. 

“If I don’t go now I’ll … I really have to go.”

“Don’t wanna miss your plane.”

“I’ll call you.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Then he turned, bounding off towards his gate, hoping he’d still manage to catch the flight.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_2PM (Anchorage) - 10AM (Sydney)_

“You’re pathetic.”

“Go away.”

“You haven’t left your room all weekend!,” Mako stated, leaning against the doorway leading to Chuck’s room with her arms crossed in front of her chest, one eyebrow raised as she looked at the pathetic heap of a man that was Chuck Hansen, curled up under a pile of blankets and pillows and looking like he hadn’t showered in days.

Which was because he hadn’t showered in days.

“You’re stinking up the room Hansen. Get showered, get dressed. We’re going out tonight.”

“Since when do you go out?”

“Since you won’t go out yourself anymore and someone has to drag your ass out of this room.”

Sometimes Chuck Hansen really hated Mako Mori and how right she always had to be.

“Fine,” he grumbled, and if she ever told anyone about the pathetic way he was clinging to his pillow and that giant teddybear that Raleigh had once sent him for his birthday, he would murder her in her sleep. 

“Good.”

With that said, Mako turned away and Chuck pulled a face at her retreating back, pushing himself up on the bed so he could reach for his laptop. 

Looking at the clock on the screen, he did the maths, calculating that it was 2PM at Raleigh’s, which was why he was surprised to see the other man online when he pulled up Skype.

Starting up the call, he was soon met with the image of Raleigh lying curled up in his bed, looking every inch as pathetic as Chuck felt right now.

He couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Is my pain funny to you, Hansen?,” Raleigh grumbled, shaking a fist at the camera and Chuck laughed some more, then shook his head. 

“Are you seeing the state I’m in right now Becket? I mean, really. I’m not sure which one of us is worse,” he countered, pointedly running a hand through his hair to make an even bigger mess out of it and at least that got a laugh out of Raleigh. 

“We’re pathetic.”

“I know. But don’t tell Mako I said that, because she’ll enjoy it too much.”

“Noted.”

Chuck smiled lightly to himself as Raleigh moved around, the image jumping as the other man sat up straighter, propping himself up on some pillows and Chuck simply stayed put, watching him, resisting the urge to reach for the teddy bear.

“I miss you,” he said after the image focused on Raleigh again, glancing up at the camera and he smiled lightly as he saw Raleigh looking up at his own camera, sighing softly then. 

“I miss you too.”

“Mako’s dragging me out tonight. She says I need to shower and get dressed because I’m stinking up the apartment.”

Raleigh laughed at that, shaking his head.

“She’s too good for you Hansen.”

“I know. She knows too. Don’t know why she puts up with me.”

“Because you’re good company. And despite the overly large ego, you’re actually not that bad of a person either.”

“Gee, thanks Rals,” Chuck said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Raleigh, who simply smirked at him. 

“You’re welcome.”

“How’s Yance doing?”

It was a none too subtle change of subject, though Chuck didn’t necessarily aim for a change of subject as much as he was just curious to find out Yancy was doing. Though he’d been a little put off about that conversation Yancy and he had via Skype that first time they spoke, he’d grown rather fond of the elder Becket over the course of his visit. 

“Getting better. It’s still a slow process. Legs are mostly healing up, he’s going through a lot of physical therapy now,” Raleigh explained and Chuck smiled lightly, nodding. 

“Told ya he’d be fine.”

“I know.”

Chuck sighed, glancing around his room as a silence fell and he chewed lightly on his lip, momentarily lost in thought before he turned his gaze back towards the screen. 

“I should probably actually do something about this mess that is my room. And my life. I still have a test that I need to do cos I missed it when I was at yours..,” Chuck trailed off, smiling somewhat sheepishly as Raleigh glared at the screen.

“I would’ve told you not to come if I’d known you were skipping school.”

They’d had this argument before. Raleigh won, or at least Chuck thought so, but in the end it didn’t matter. He’d have come over anyway. 

“I know. And I would’ve come anyway Rals. I’ve got perfect grades, nothing bad happened and anything that did happen I can easily fix. You shouldn’t worry about it,” Chuck explained for what felt like the umpteenth time, though it was really only about the third time. 

“Well alright, you go do your .. cleaning up your mess thing. I should take a look at some work files anyway, drag my ass out of bed and be useful for a change.”

“Yeah, you go do that.”

“Talk to you later Chuckles.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_3PM (Sydney) - 7PM (Anchorage)_

“So you know how Anchorage has the School of Engineering?”

Chuck was seated at a table in a study area at the university, earplugs in and leant close to the computer screen, his voice hushed but excited, excitement amplified by the large grin on his face.

“Yeeeess?,” Raleigh answered, eyeing Chuck somewhat warily through his camera, not entirely sure if he knew what was going on here. Knowing Chuck, he had to say that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know either. Then again, he probably did want to know. He got curious about everything concerning Chuck.

“And remember how I told you that as a part of my study, I get to do a minor and I can do that pretty much wherever I want as long as it’s Engineering related?”

Chuck watched Raleigh closely as the other man bit down on his lip, a light frown settling on his face and honestly, he’d wanted to wait til Raleigh pieced it together himself, but Chuck was excited and he really couldn’t contain himself much longer.

“You’re coming here?”

Raleigh beat him anyway, and part of Chuck was a little sad about that, but the sadness was soon washed away by the sheer overwhelming amount of excitement he was feeling at the mere prospect of this. And it was far beyond prospect already because Chuck had already set it all in motion.

“Yes! For six months, starting September, I’ll be attending courses at the School of Engineering at Anchorage!”

“ _Really!?_ ”

Raleigh had no reason not to believe what Chuck was telling him other than it sounded way too good to be true.

“Yes, really! I mean I still need the student visa, but everything’s been set in motion so if all goes well,” Chuck held up his crossed fingers to the camera, a wide smile still on his face, “I should be coming your way in a few months!”


	4. 4PM to 8PM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the lovely comments guys! Here's the next chapter, hope y'all like it (:

_4PM (Anchorage) - 12PM (Sydney)_

The sign read ‘Chuckles & Miss Mori’ in bright, glittery purple letters and if it had been anyone other than Raleigh holding it up, Chuck would’ve flipped them off and pointedly stalked off in the opposite direction. 

Seeing as it _was_ Raleigh though, Chuck decided to dismiss the sign and instead ditched his bags - ignoring Mako’s undignified ‘hey’ as his suitcase fell over and almost landed on her - and ran right over, dodging people left and right til he got to where Raleigh was.

Raleigh, in turn, dropped the sign, smiling widely as Chuck approached, a light ‘oompf’ escaping him as the Australian bodily threw himself at him and he had to take a few steps back to maintain his balance.

“Hey,” Raleigh managed, only barely, before Chuck cut him off by kissing him, arms wrapping around Raleigh and the older man wrapped his arms around Chuck in return, pulling him closer to him as he returned the kiss.

“Excuse me, do you _mind_?”

It was only when the kiss was broken and Chuck looked to the side that he realised Yancy had tagged along, or wheeled a long, seeing as he was still recovering and had been provided with a wheelchair.

He looked a lot better, even with the slight dusting of purple glitter in his hair and the scowl on his face. Apparently the sign Raleigh dropped had landed right on him and he didn’t seem too pleased about it. 

“Yeah, I do mind,” Chuck said, wide grin on his face as he pointedly turned back to Raleigh, leaning up to kiss him again.

That time, it was Mako who interrupted, literally pulling them apart by grabbing a hold of Chuck’s jacket and forcefully tugging him back.

“I’m exhausted and I’m not carrying your bags for you, so go grab your shit and then let’s _go_. If I don’t find a bed within an hour, I will murder you,” she said sharply, throwing in one of those fake smiles that made Chuck fear for his life before using the grip she still had on his jacket to practically throw him back in the direction of his suitcase.

She turned to Raleigh then, glaring at him, daring him to say something, but instead of using words he simply smiled at her, that stupid wide smile and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

She’d decided to tag along with Chuck after realising that, even though she was a year below him, the way the study was divided across the four years had changed in her year and she could do her minor early if she passed all her classes. Which, she had, and helping Chuck look for classes had drawn her attention to a few classes she herself thought were interesting and then before she knew it Chuck had talked her into coming to Anchorage with him. 

“I’m gonna regret this.”

The idea had seemed great at the time, and she didn’t honestly think she was gonna regret this - not yet anyway - but right now? 

Right now she was tired and if she didn’t find a bed soon, well … Someone was gonna pay for getting in her way.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_5PM (Anchorage) - 10AM (Hong Kong)_

“You’re _where_?”

“Hong Kong, Chuck, I’m in Hong Kong, why --”

“Dad, you need to press the video icon .. thingy.”

“I .. the what now?”

Herc Hansen wasn’t so much bad at technology as he was bad at Skype, which, considering the fact that it was a program he’d never used before, honestly wasn’t that weird.

Even if, as Chuck kept pointing out, it really wasn’t that hard to figure out. 

“It’s the webcam image, you just … I’ll just call you back using video chat, dad, just --”

“No no, hang on, I think I’ve got it.”

Chuck kept quiet, watching the screen intently and just as he was about to speak up again, tell his dad that it wasn’t working, his father’s face popped into focus and Chuck jumped back, almost falling off his chair.

“Jesus fuck dad, you don’t have to lean so close!”

“What? Oh, okay.”

Herc leant back, frowning at the computer for a moment before his face relaxed and he smiled lightly. 

“Hey, son.”

“Hi dad.”

A pause.

“So why are you in Hong Kong?”

Chuck knew his father travelled a lot for work; a former military man and an intelligence officer, his expertise was apparently needed all over the world, but as far as Chuck remembered, the man had never really travelled to Hong Kong before. 

“Helping Stacker out with a project. It’s not really anything official,” Herc explained, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he shifted, cursing under his breath as his movement jostled the laptop and he reached out quickly, barely managing to stop the device from falling down from whatever surface Herc had placed it on.

“How’s Anchorage?,” he then asked, pretending that didn’t happen, pointedly ignoring the wide grin on his son’s face. “You freezing your balls of yet?”

Chuck’s grin dropped a little at that, which in turn made Herc smirk. He’d been nothing but supportive of his son’s mad plan of going to study in Anchorage - of all places - for six months, but he’d warned Chuck that he probably wouldn’t be agreeing much with the weather.

He’d always been someone who got cold easily and well. He was in Alaska now and winter was coming, which was a far way from being in Sydney with summer on its way. 

“Ha ha, aren’t you just hilarious,” Chuck stated, not a single trace of humour to his voice and it really only seemed to amuse Herc further. Bastard. 

“Raleigh and Mako doing alright?,” his father then asked, apparently deciding to spare his son from any further cold-related questions, though Chuck was sure the old man would come back to it later. He enjoyed poking fun at Chuck a little too much. 

“Yeah, they’re doing great. Mako’s loving it here and with Yance back on his feet Raleigh’s got a bit more time on his hands now. I think I’ve almost got him convinced he should take those evening classes,” Chuck said, which, the evening classes had been a project he’d been trying to make happen for years now. Raleigh never seemed sure about whether or not he wanted to do it though, so Chuck hoped that him being here in person and telling him what a great idea it really was would maybe help him with making a decision. 

“Well don’t push him too hard, son. He’s gotta wanna do it for himself, not just for you.” Chuck rolled his eyes, despite knowing that his dad meant well. 

“Yeah, I know dad.”

“Good.”

There was a slight pause again, Herc leaning away from the computer when it looked like someone else was in the room, talking to him and Chuck took the moment to move to the kitchen with the laptop, placing the device on the kitchen table before rummaging through the fridge and the cabinets. 

“.. yeah, okay, I’ll do that. Chuck? Where are you .. oh, there you are. What’re you doing?” 

“Getting ready to make dinner.” Beat. “Who was that?”

“You’re _cooking_?,” Herc asked, an incredulous tone to his voice as he leant closer to the screen, almost as if he wanted a closer look because he couldn’t believe his ears. 

“And that was Stacker. He said to say hi to Mako for him, if you can. Said he’ll be calling her himself later tonight.”

“I’ll tell her. And yes, I’m cooking. We take turns.”

“You’ve never made me dinner.”

Herc almost sounded sad when he said it, causing Chuck to look up from where he was cutting up the vegetables. “You’re really not missing out on much. Between me, Rals and Mako, I’m by far the worst cook in the house,” he said with a light chuckle, and he realised that probably wasn’t the point his father was trying to make, but still.

“Don’t care. You’ll have to cook for me sometime. I’ll be judge of whether or not I’m missing out.”

“Yeah, alright. When I get back, I’ll cook for you,” Chuck promised, moving around the kitchen to grab a pan, filling it with water before putting it on the stove, letting the vegetables slide in the pan before turning the stove on. 

“Well, you’re busy and I’ve got some paperwork to look over, so I’ll talk to you again soon, yeah?,” Herc said after another brief moment of silence and Chuck stepped back into view, nodding, light smile on his face.

“Yeah alright old man. See ya soon!”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_6PM (Anchorage) - 2PM (Sydney)_

“It’s such a strange thought that it’s almost literally a day later back home,” Chuck mused, voice quiet, his head leaning back against Raleigh’s shoulder as he toyed with the other man’s hand, twining their fingers together as they laid on the couch.

The TV was on and Chuck had been paying attention earlier, but then the news came on, followed by some silly game show and he’d opted for curling up against Raleigh instead. The game show was still on, but Chuck was hardly paying attention, though Raleigh occasionally seemed interested as he called out random quiz answers. 

“Time differences are crazy,” Raleigh commented, reaching up with his free hand to cover his mouth as he yawned, pointing at the TV then as he said “Mesopotamia!” 

Chuck simply turned his head to stare up at the older male, raising an eyebrow as the presenter of the show then said the answer was actually correct. 

“Why do I feel like you watch this show a lot more than you’re letting on?”

Raleigh smirked. 

“Because I do.”

“You have a weird taste in shows, Becket,” Chuck then commented, grinning lightly as Raleigh actually looked offended for a moment. “What? Not like it’s not true. You make me watch shows about timelords and dinosaurs and aliens in space, it’s a little odd sometimes.”

“You _like_ those shows.”

“I like _some_ of those shows. For the most part I like _talking_ about the shows with you.”

Raleigh smiled lightly at that. “So you watch them for me?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re cute.”

Pulling a face, Chuck then glared up at Raleigh, pointedly letting go of his hand so he could cross his arms in front of his chest.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Chuck stared.

“Are we really gonna do this?”

“Unless you wanna go ahead and admit defeat..”

“Hell no.”

A beat.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

Raleigh was smiling widely by now, accompanying each ‘are too’ with a slight prod in Chuck’s side, at which Chuck in return swatted at his hand and continued to glare at him.

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are --”

Chuck had shifted, then leant up, effectively silencing Raleigh by kissing him and for a second it looked like Raleigh was going to object, then his body relaxed and he returned the kiss, one hand wrapping around Chuck to pull him closer as he brought the other up to the side of the other man’s face.

“Am not,” Chuck mumbled, grinning lightly as Raleigh simply grunted in response, then pushed Chuck down on the couch, moving with him so he could kiss him again, covering Chuck’s body with his own.

“What about your game show?” 

“I’ve got more important things to do.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_7PM (Sydney) - 11PM (Anchorage)_

“We’re just kidding ourselves with this whole thing, aren’t we?”

He'd had a few beers, maybe more than just a few, but instead of his usually giggly drunken self, Chuck was somehow in a far darker mood.

He sighed.

“Chuck?,” came Raleigh’s voice, because it felt like the statement was a thought that was unfinished and though Raleigh was somewhat inebriated as well, he wasn’t that far gone. He could still pick up on a serious tone when Chuck used one and it made him frown.

“We’re just … this’ll be six months, six months of .. six months of amazing memories and great sex, but what happens afterwards? What happens after I go home again and --”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“Don’t…,” Chuck trailed off, sighing, running a hand through his hair before bringing the bottle of beer back up to his lips, downing the last bit of it before tossing the bottle aside somewhat carelessly.

Raleigh winced as it shattered to the ground a few feet away from them.

“How’s this ever gonna work?”

Chuck’s voice was quiet and small and he was avoiding Raleigh’s eyes, afraid to meet his gaze and it made the older man sigh, then step forward, reaching out for Chuck.

“Don’t.”

His hand hovered in the air as Chuck’s words made him hesitate, but then he pushed on anyway, fingers brushing Chuck’s skin as he put his hand under the younger man’s chin, turning his head and making him look at him.

“Chuck, look at me.”

Chuck looked up, reluctantly, glaring at Raleigh, but there was something in his eyes that made the glare seem far less deadly than it usually was.

“I don’t want it to come to an end. I don’t want to leave Rals, but I also don’t wanna stay here forever, I just …,” he trailed off, reaching up to grab a light hold of Raleigh’s wrist, pulling his hand away from his face. 

“In a couple of months this whole thing will be nothing but a memory and I’ll just be at home again, lying around like some pathetic asshole and --”

“You’re not a pathetic asshole, Chuck.”

“Aren’t I?”

“Well, you’re not pathetic. You are an asshole sometimes.”

Raleigh grinned, though the grin faltered a little as Chuck simply glared at him.

“I’m trying to be serious.”

“And I get that, but I don’t see why we can’t just enjoy this while it lasts and --”

“And then what? We go back to the way things were as if none of this happened?”

“I would never suggest that.”

“But what else can we do? You said yourself that you don’t think long distance relationships work Rals.”

“I know I said that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think we can be the exception to that,” Raleigh said quietly, grabbing for Chuck’s hand as the other man let his arm drop by his side, tugging at his sleeve to pull him a little closer.

“I like you Chuckles. I’m not just gonna let you bugger off back to kangaroo land and let that be it.”

“No one calls it kangaroo land, Rals.”

Raleigh was glad to see he at least got a slight smile out of Chuck with that one. 

“I’m not saying it’ll be easy, I’m saying that we’re two adults who can figure this stuff out. We’ll make it work.”

“But what if we can’t?”

Raleigh sighed.

“Then … I don’t know. That’s not an option?”

“I know that it’s tempting to just … try not to worry about this til we get to that point, but I can’t just shut off my brain,” Chuck said, looking up now, meeting Raleigh’s gaze because he wanted to make a point. 

“I don’t want any of this to just become some distant memory, I want this to .. I dunno. I want this to be the story that we tell people when they ask how we met after they find out we’ve been together for ten years..,” he continued, trailing off then, because he realised that maybe that was a bit much, he realised that they’d never talked about this. 

They’d told each other they liked one another, they’d expressed that, they’d introduced each other as the boyfriend, but Chuck felt like it was so much more. They just weren’t very good at the talking thing. 

Every time he tried to bring something up, or whenever Raleigh tried to bring it up as well, they’d just wind up dismissing the topic, focusing on other, seemingly more important things. 

Like making out, or having a food fight in the middle of the night. Mostly the former, though the latter had been fun as well.

“If we both want this bad enough, then there’s nothing that can stop us from making it happen,” Raleigh muttered then, pulling Chuck closer again, bringing his hand back up to the side of the other man’s face, tilting his head before leaning down to press a light kiss to his lips. 

“And I want it Chuck. I want this. I want you. And I think we can make it work.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_8PM (Anchorage) - 4PM (Sydney)_

“What are you supposed to be again?”

Yancy stared at Chuck, crossing his arms in front of his chest, clearly resisting the urge to reach for the fake gun he was carrying in his holster as Chuck circled him in some lame attempt to figure out who he was dressed up as.

“We’ve been over this.”

“Yes, something with fireflies, but I still don’t get it.”

“Raleigh, how are you not educating this dumb Australian?”

“Hey!”

Raleigh popped his head from around the corner of the bedroom, struggling with the shirt he was trying to pull over his head and he hopped into the living room then, one foot clad in a shoe whilst the other had a sock on it and if Yancy and Chuck were ever going to get into it about the stupid costume, it wasn’t about to happen anymore.

“I’m _trying_ to educate him, but you don’t understand how far off he is, he --”

“Hey!,” Chuck objected again, but Raleigh just continued. “He hadn’t even seen Star Wars alright, and I’ve been telling him for years to watch it but he just wouldn’t so I forced him to watch it as soon as he got here, but he’s just … he’s got a long way to go Yance.”

“That’s pathetic.”

Instead of objecting again, Chuck simply glowered at Yancy, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“Raleigh, you’ve put your shirt on backwards,” Mako said as she stepped into the room, smoothing down her own costume before reaching up to adjust the large, blond wig, doing so carefully as to not mess up the white and black make up. 

“Your eyes look freaky.”

“They’re supposed to look freaky,” she countered, raising an eyebrow at Chuck before turning to Yancy, who seemed a little in awe of her costume. 

“You know who she is, Chuck?,” the eldest Becket asked, turning to look over at Chuck, who simply nodded.

“Who then?”

“Harley Quinn.”

“How come you know who Harley Quinn is and not who Malcolm Reynolds is?”

“Because I like video games and comics better than I like obscure sci fi series?”

“And a movie.”

“Right. And a movie.”

There was a momentary silence as they all watched Raleigh hop around on one foot, trying to get his shoe on and Chuck couldn’t help but smirk as he then reached up to pull his shirt off so he could put it on the right way around.

“Oh, get a room.”

“We’re not even doing anything!”

“You’re practically drooling, Hansen.”

“Am not. Just appreciating the view.”

Chuck smirked as Yancy rolled his eyes. Sometimes it was too easy to get under the older Becket’s skin really. 

“Who are you supposed to be anyway?,” Yancy then asked, obviously still upset about the fact that Chuck didn’t know who Malcolm Reynolds was, even though Chuck did know, at least sort of. He’d watched a few episodes of Firefly after all, under Raleigh’s orders of course, and he’d actually quite enjoyed it.

Not as much as he enjoyed the undignified look on Yancy’s face though.

“Nathan Drake,” Chuck answered his question, tugging at the scarf around his neck, ready to tell Yancy that not knowing who Nathan Drake was, was really far worse than not knowing who Malcolm Reynolds was, but then there was a knock on the door and his train of thought got interrupted.

“I’ll get it,” Mako said, stopping her incessant tugging on the wig as she padded her way over to the door, pulling it open.

“Oh, hey Tendo,” she greeted the man in the hallway, dressed as … well, _someone_ from Tron and Tendo raised his hand in a greeting before tugging off the motorcycle helmet he’d put on, taking a deep breath.

“Man it’s hot in that thing,” he commented, stepping inside then, Mako closing the door behind him. “Hi guys. We all ready to head out?”

Chuck had met Tendo a few times since he’d gotten to Anchorage, finding it hard to let go of the things that Raleigh had told him once, but unfortunately for Chuck’s need to hold grudges, Tendo was actually really nice. 

Apparently he and the Beckets had known each other for a pretty long time now, something that Raleigh had neglected to mention, but well, Chuck supposed it hadn’t really been relevant at the time.

“As soon as Raleigh manages to dress himself properly, we’re good to go,” Chuck said, smirking at the offended ‘hmpf’ coming from behind him as Raleigh adjusted his holster and started looking around for his gun. 

“I just … right, thank you,” he said as Mako handed the gun to him and he pointedly held it up to ‘shoot’ Chuck before holstering it.

“Alright. All set.”


	5. 9PM to Midnight

_9PM (Anchorage) - 5PM (Sydney)_

“So you don’t celebrate it at all?”

“We have nothing to be thankful for in Australia,” Chuck said, a hint of sarcasm to his voice as he raised an eyebrow at Yancy, who was bustling about in the kitchen, stuffing a turkey twice the size of the largest turkey Chuck had seen before. 

He couldn’t stop staring at it, still impressed.

“How many people are coming over again?”

“It’s you, me, Rals, Mako, Tendo, Stacker and your dad.”

“So seven people.”

“Yes.”

“Seven people are gonna eat all that.”

Yancy simply stared in response as Chuck waved his hands around, indicating not only the turkey, but also the large amount of mashed potatoes, cornbread, sweet potatoes (Chuck still wasn’t satisfied with the answer Yancy gave him when he asked why they had two types of potatoes) and the overly large pumpkin pie that Raleigh was apparently planning on making. 

“Can you just make the cranberry sauce?”

Chuck mock saluted Yance, then reached for the recipe the elder Becket had printed out. It seemed simple enough, boil the water with the sugar in it, then add the fresh cranberries, make sure it boiled again, turn down the heat and let it simmer til the cranberries burst. Piece of cake. 

“What else do I even throw in there?,” Chuck asked, looking over the rest of the ingredients Yancy’d put on the counter; nuts, raisins, currants, blueberries, spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. He’d let the cranberries simmer, helped pop some of them by prodding at them with a fork, but he wasn’t entirely sure if he was supposed to just throw everything in there or if he should make sure what he did throw in would at least mix well.

Yancy, after pulling his hand from the turkey’s ass, made his way over, hand somewhat covered in stuffing and Chuck pointedly stepped aside, shooting him a look. 

“You’re gonna be eating this later today, so don’t give me that look,” Yance said with a smirk, then he looked over the ingredients.

“Just .. use whatever you like? I tend to just throw in some raisins and some cinnamon, but if you prefer other things, go right ahead.”

Chuck nodded, picking up some of the spices to read what the labels said, glancing over at Yancy as the other man continued working on the stuffing.

“Is anyone allergic to anything?,” Chuck asked after looking everything over; though he was fairly certain Raleigh and Mako had no allergies, he wasn’t so sure about Tendo and he figured it was a good thing to ask whether or not someone had a nut allergy before throwing nuts in.   
“Not that I know off,” Yancy offered, finishing with stuffing the turkey and then turning towards the oven, pulling that open before sliding the turkey inside and really, Chuck was amazed that thing even fit in their oven in the first place. 

After shutting the oven and setting the time, Yancy turned back to Chuck, watching as he still didn’t seem to have made up his mind about what to throw in with the cranberries.

Yancy sighed.

“So, you and Rals… that’s like an official thing now, yeah?”

Chuck glanced over at the elder Becket, putting the spices he’d been holding back down on the counter, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“I guess so?,” he offered, because the truth was that, though they acted like a couple, including both the cute comments to each other and the sex, they’d never actually said it with so much words. 

“You .. oh for fuck’s sake,” Yancy grumbled, running a hand through his hair before crossing his arms as well. “You guys need to talk about this stuff.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

There was a brief silence.

“What’re you gonna do when you go back home?”

Chuck shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know. Finish my study for one, but I don’t .. I know what you mean, okay? But it’s just .. it’s not that simple.”

“Which is exactly why you guys aren’t talking about it, and I get that, but you can’t keep avoiding it forever. Sooner than later you’ll be standing at the airport again and you’ll just break each other’s hearts with some painful goodbye again and just ..,” Yancy trailed off, seemingly a little more upset about this whole thing than Chuck expected. 

“I haven’t seen my little brother this happy in a long time Chuck, I just .. I don’t want you to take that away from him. And I don’t want him to take it away from you. It’s hard for me to just .. stand by and watch you guys not talk about this. I don’t want you guys hurting each other.”

Chuck sighed, averting his gaze, looking down at his shoes. 

“I’m afraid to talk about it.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”

“I know that, but it’s just … I brought it up once and we just. It’s not like there’s a logical answer to any of it. I’m here for now, but I don’t want to stay here forever. I want to go home at some point. But I can’t ask Rals to just come with me, same as he can’t ask me to just drop everything and stay here instead; doesn’t matter how much we like each other that’s just .. it’s a lot to ask,” Chuck tried to explain, sighing again because it was hard to put this into words. Feelings had never been his strong suit really. Especially not talking about them.

“Maybe there’s some middle ground to be found somewhere.”

Chuck looked back up at Yancy’s suggestion, chewing lightly on his bottom lip before he responded.

“Yeah, maybe. But I wanna finish my study and I know that, despite his complaining, Raleigh loves the work he does and he loves Anchorage and I just feel that neither of us really want to leave our lives behind.”

“No one’s saying you have to do that in the first place, Chuck,” Yancy countered, raising an eyebrow. “Look, I’m just saying, that even if you don’t have any answers, it won’t hurt to talk about this. To try and be on the same page. Maybe you guys’ll even figure something out if you talk.”

“Maybe.”

“Only one way to find out, Hansen.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_10PM (Anchorage) - 6PM (Sydney)_

“You look like a koala bear.”

“Do not.”

Raleigh shot Chuck a pointed look as the other male reached up to pull his collar even further up, his scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and his hat pulled far down and maybe it was the fact that Chuck hadn’t packed a wool hat and that Raleigh had given him his old one - the one with the teddy bear ears - but he really _did_ look like a koala bear.

Or just any regular old bear, but koala bear was an easy step to make. 

“C’mon, it’s just one more store, then we should have presents for everyone.”

“I wanna go home.”

Chuck scowled at Raleigh as he rolled his eyes, biting back any comments about just how young Chuck really sounded when he complained about the cold like that.

“One more store, then when we get home I’ll make you chocolate milk with cinnamon.”

A beat.

“I do like chocolate milk with cinnamon,” Chuck then admitted, not meeting Raleigh’s gaze, instead digging his hands into his pockets only to have Raleigh pull one of his hands back _out_ of his pocket, taking it into his own. 

“C’mon Chuckles,” the older man said, grin on his face as he tugged on Chuck’s hand, pulling him closer, reaching up with his free hand to push Chuck’s scarf out of the way so he could lean close and kiss him lightly. 

“Can also forego the chocolate milk and skip to other eh … methods of warming you up,” Raleigh mumbled against Chuck’s lips, smirking as the younger man grunted, then pointedly kissed Raleigh. 

“Both. I want both,” Chuck then said, pulling away somewhat reluctantly, sighing then. 

“Let’s just get this over with then.”

They wound up heading into the shop and then Raleigh somehow talked Chuck into trying out the new open air ice rink in the city center.

A few loud curses and bruises later Chuck was insisting they go home and when they did get home eventually, he more than insisted on the other methods of warming up. 

Raleigh still made him hot chocolate with cinnamon as well.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_11PM (Anchorage) - 7PM (Sydney)_

“Merry Christmas.”

It was late at night, the clock had just struck eleven o’clock at night and after a long day and night of unwrapping gifts and eating a whole lot of food, everyone had slowly started going home. 

Chuck had slumped down on the couch after helping clean up the kitchen, turning on the dishwasher and washing the rest by hand and it had taken up most of the night. Yancy had stuck around to help, but left a few minutes ago, mumbling something about going over to Tendo’s place and apparently Mako was staying over at a friend’s place tonight, which left just Chuck and Raleigh.

He kind of liked it like that, for now. Mako was great as far as roommates went, but sometimes Chuck wished it was just him and Raleigh. Maybe they’d get their own place at some point. 

Turning to look up at the Merry Christmas, Chuck watched as Raleigh sat down next to him, sleeves of his dress shirt still rolled up from doing the dishes and Chuck promptly cuddled up against the slightly taller man, sighing softly.

“Merry Christmas,” he then returned, smiling lightly as he felt Raleigh press a light kiss to the top of his head before the other man shifted, wrapping his arm around Chuck to pull him close.

“That was a good Christmas, wasn’t it?,” Chuck asked, voice small as he found he was a lot more tired than he thought he’d be. It had been a long day; one that started with a luxurious Christmas breakfast and then they’d all gotten dressed, people coming and going until it became time to unwrap presents and then have dinner and Chuck was still wearing the ridiculous Christmas sweater Yancy had gotten for him.

Despite the obnoxious reindeers all over it, it was soft and warm and for some reason Chuck thought it smelled like Raleigh.

“Our first Christmas together,” Raleigh mused, his hand running up and down Chuck’s arm absentmindedly for a moment before he brought it further down, reaching for Chuck’s hand, twining their fingers together. 

“Not so bad as far as first Christmases go.”

“Yeah. Not so bad at all.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_MIDNIGHT (Sydney)_

They’d first started talking around New Years. Chuck remembered pretty well; he’d been upset with his father for not having bought enough fireworks and he remembered a rather hilarious conversation about how Chuck lived in the future and he remembered Raleigh asking him what it was like and if they had robots and it was one of the first talks they’d had.

It had been a good talk. 

They’d flown to Sydney, all of them, excluding Yancy and Tendo, because they’d agreed to celebrate Christmas at Yancy’s and New Years at Tendo’s and Raleigh hadn’t been able to convince his brother to come with him after all.

Chuck knew it bothered Raleigh, he knew how important family was to the Beckets, but he was still glad that Raleigh decided to come.

New Years in Sydney had never been something special to Chuck, because he’d grown up with it and for him it was nothing special, but having Raleigh here, seeing the amazement splay across the other male’s face as they looked up at the fireworks over Sydney, that was enough to make it special for Chuck as well.

“This is amazing,” Raleigh marvelled, having been looking up at the fireworks for the past five minutes and Chuck was sure he’d get a sore neck at some point, but apparently Raleigh wasn’t too bothered by that. 

The fireworks show over Sydney was always spectacular - even if it had never been out of the ordinary for Chuck, he’d still known to appreciate that - but like most things in life, getting to experience something with someone you cared about made it all the more special. 

Chuck looked around as Raleigh kept his gaze fixed upon the fireworks, smiling lightly as he spotted Stacker and Herc to his left, both sipping from their champagne and Mako was there too, eyes bright and cheeks a little red because of the alcohol they’d all been drinking and they all seemed happy. Happy to be where they were and Chuck couldn’t help but smile wider, reaching for Raleigh’s hand then.

“I can’t believe you’re not even watching this,” Raleigh said, not looking away from the fireworks as he spoke, though he squeezed Chuck’s hand lightly, who simply chuckled in response. 

“My view’s even better than yours,” Chuck replied, light smirk on his face as that made Raleigh look down, a somewhat confused look on his face as he saw Chuck was looking at him instead of at the sky. 

“What ..,” he started, but then it clicked it and he couldn’t help but smile widely.

“You’re sweet.”

Chuck wasn’t always good with words, Raleigh was generally the one who was better at the compliments and sweet little nothings - and the dirty talk, but that was an entirely different matter - but Chuck did try sometimes and Raleigh always appreciated it. 

Stepping closer to Raleigh, Chuck wrapped one of his arms around the other man’s waist, leaning his head against Raleigh’s as he turned to look up then, the different colours of the fireworks reflecting on their faces as Raleigh turned to look up as well.

“I love you.” A beat. “You know that, right?”

They still weren’t very good at talking - though they did have that talk that Yancy had suggested they have - and they hadn’t said those exact words before, but Chuck liked to think that actions spoke louder than words and that his actions towards Raleigh had made it more than obvious that he did. He did love him. 

Instead of responding with words, Raleigh turned, free hand coming up to frame Chuck’s face before he leant in, kissing him, hard and Chuck was a little thrown off, taking a few seconds before he returned the kiss, free hand grasping at Raleigh’s shirt as he pressed himself closer.

For a moment he was afraid that Raleigh didn’t feel the same way, that he was simply kissing Chuck because he couldn’t say the words in return, because kissing him was just easier, but after letting the kiss last for a few minutes and effectively rendering Chuck rather breathless, Raleigh spoke after all.

“I love you too, Chuckles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they lived happily ever after!!
> 
> Wheh okay, that was fun to write. Thanks again for all the lovely comments guys!! Also as a note, I like writing random drabbles and short fics so if anyone ever has any prompts/requests for things, feel free to hurl those my way.
> 
> PS I might write more for this some day! But for now this is the endddd.


End file.
